No, that’s not all one topic (though it sounds like it would make an interesting discussion). I’m just giving you an update on some things over at my other site that you might be interested in. Continue reading →

Like this:

In my review of Avengers: Age of Ultron, I said that I had some speculations that I decided to cut and turn into a separate blog post. It isn’t just about predicting future plots, but there’s some of that too.

We all know that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a blowout success. Even the shaky installments (we’ll ignore Agents of SHIELD season one for right now) have been “bad” only in comparison to the top material. It’s also been successful at introducing these long-beloved characters to new audiences who may have known nothing about them or their stories. That’s impressive all on its own, considering the depth of the Marvel Comics storylines, many of which go back half a century now.

It started with Iron Man, which updated Tony Stark’s story to fit a modern audience’s expectation. A great deal of the success comes from Robert Downey Jr., of course. He’s the Tom Baker of not just the role, but the whole universe; and one of the best things about it is that he’s also aware of how close he came to outright disaster due to drugs and other self-destructive behavior, and I firmly believe that this fuels the way he throws himself into the role. Not only does he know what it’s like to completely doubt yourself, but he clearly sees each day as part of a second chance on life. Continue reading →

I’m not feeling well today (nausea, exhaustion, pain — basically, my fibromyalgia is being rebellious), so I haven’t been doing much of anything except lie down and hope it passes soon.

Sometimes, when I’m in the right mood and there’s something on my mind, I start composing poetry. I guess today’s one of those days. So, hey, I guess I’ve got another Hugo-related post in me after all.

While once upon a time a fan
Would know a Hugo would impress
In recent years awards began
To seem to lack that same success
Awards for excellence now went
To only those who would express
A social scheme without dissent
And jump on those who might transgress

The story, see, cannot be king,
Not if we’re to fix the mess
For social justice is the thing
And never style or finesse
The value of a tale is found
Only when its words address
A lack of tolerance profound
And so dissent we must repress

These are, we’re told, quite vital jobs
To let society progress
But it just left us with some snobs
Whose way of life was to suppress
This made many puppies cry
And seek a cure for their distress
The best of fiction they could buy
But Hugo wins would just depress

But then one year they tried as one
To get the field to reassess
The old idea that tales are fun
And that’s what Hugos should express
Canine plans weren’t met with glee
But rather lies told by the press
Yet puppies everywhere agree
That they’ll keep trying nonetheless!

Like this:

Every year, the Butcher team releases an official April Fool’s Day joke. This is the best one yet, and I had to share it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY

Due to readers’ frustration with the wait between books, Jim Butcher and his editor at Penguin Random House are taking inspiration from one of their favorite film trilogies and declaring a temporary hiatus on publication of the Dresden Files novels.

“I think Peter Jackson had the right idea with the Lord of the Rings movies,” Butcher explained. “The trilogy took eight years to make. You can’t expect an audience to wait that long between installments. It made more sense to film all three movies simultaneously, then release them back to back. That’s what I’d like to do.”

He continued, “I mean, these books take a long time to craft. Each novel is its own challenge with new complexities, and ‘Skin Game’ was almost double the length of ‘Storm Front’. Brandon Sanderson was kind enough to hook me up with the xenobiologists who grew his hybrid army of alien writer clones, but until these pupae mature, I’m just one man.”

Jim will be writing case books 16 through 20ish all at once, then releasing them six months apart. Then, taking inspiration from Jackson’s treatment of The Hobbit, Butcher will split the final Apocalyptic Trilogy into fifteen books, also written simultaneously and released on the same schedule.

Okay, geek fans. We all know that Firefly was one of the most awesome things in the history of geekdom.

And if for some reason you disagree, then *fingers in ears* LALALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOUUUUUU . . .

I could go into lots of reasons why it was a great show, but that’s not the point here. The point of this post is that there is a sort of shared community among Firefly fans that can’t ever be duplicated (well, except by Star Trek fans in the 70s . . . or Doctor Who fans in the 90s . . . never mind, you know what I mean). It’s a shared rapport over not just what it was, but what it could have been. There’s nothing more powerful than the imagination for that sort of thing.

And when you have a rapport like that, you tend to band together. And when you band together, you tend to find other fun things to share. And sometimes the people who help create those fun things show up too. And when that happens, you call it a convention.

And now Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion, with Gina Torres, Felicia Day, Seth Green, and James Gunn, are going to make a series about that experience. Continue reading →

Longtime readers may remember that I had some input on the Fate Core RPG system. (Yes, that is my name on the cover of Worlds on Fire. They didn’t tell me that was happening.) Evil Hat Productions and I haven’t had business together since, but Fate remains my favorite RPG system, and I actually have a review for one of their latest offerings in the pipeline.

Today, however, I just want to share the news that the long-awaited supplement for The Dresden Files RPG is finally scheduled for publication. The Paranet Papers will be released on June 1st.

“Big deal,” you might say. You’re not interested in anything other than the next Dresden Files novel. Why would you want an RPG supplement? I’m glad you asked, Mr. Strawman! Continue reading →

I wasn’t planning on posting something for Singles’ Awareness Day, but that was before this happened.

So there I was, innocently browsing Facebook, when what do I see before me but a book challenge, one of those memes that tells you to pick up the nearest book and find a certain line. “These are always fun!” I thought.

This one was simple. Turn to page 45 and find the first sentence. That sentence would explain my love life.

I looked around for the nearest book, and realized it was the old D&D manual I use for a mousepad.

The movie Groundhog Day is famous, and it always gets referenced on February 2nd (at least here in the US, where it’s one of the weirder holidays ever dreamed up before pot was legal). Of course, the movie Edge of Tomorrow is a lot more recent, and has more guns, so maybe that little trend is on the downslide.

Well, here’s something for your relive-each-day enjoyment: two martial arts short films with the same concept. Continue reading →

As I noted before, AwesomeCon is much bigger this year. I forgot my camera and didn’t want to just use my phone, so I’ll take pictures tomorrow; but I found myself looking around the dealer hall in disbelief. That room alone would convince anyone who didn’t know better that this was an established con, and not something in its second year. The staff and other volunteers were doing a top-notch job, and the convention center staff were extremely helpful to everyone.

Also, I was amused to hear one of the screens playing “Everything is Awesome” (from The LEGO Movie) on continuous loop in the library. Despite its ultimate meaning in the movie, I was still appreciative! Continue reading →

Novel Ninja (n):

1) A person who uses subtlety and a vast array of skills to bring out the best in a story, preferably when the audience least expects it. E.g.: an editor.
2) A blog run by freelance editor Matthew Bowman, focused on advice for writers and reviews for readers.

Shadow the Ninja

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